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Ialdabaoth -> RE: Skill requirements (9/8/2008 4:41:34 PM)
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Well, the boots typically have a solid steel shank that flows from the heel down to about two-thirds of the way into the 'box'. The ideal fit for heeled boots, I've found, is a very tight ankle, a very tight heel, and a very tight insole and sides - and then a very open box. The reason for this is to put as much gel padding as possible into and around the box, so that the upward pressure on the toes is redistributed over as much surface-area of the foot as possible, and redirects to point *inwards* instead of vertically. If I make sense? Basically, it turns the direct point-force of the toes onto the toe of the boot into a compressive force across the entire foot from the first metatarsal joint outwards. Ideally, you should be looking at about 20 lbs of force on the toes per 100 lbs of girl when resting, which translates to about 2,880 ft-lbs on the toes of each foot if you don't pad. When you pad, that ideally gets split up across just under 12 square inches instead of 1 square inch, dropping it back down to about 250 ft-lbs on the front half. (The heel, on the other hand, should be taking about 300 ft-lbs per foot). Gel padding is DEFINITELY your friend - a factor of 12 decrease in toe pressure makes an AMAZING difference in endurance.
Also remember that with the boots, you aren't doing any sort of gymnastic leaps (is 'ballon' the right term?) - the gait is much more of a 'dainty strut', if that makes sense.
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